Stuck On Earth
by flippednique
Summary: Angels shed feathers in exchange for information to keep their charges alive. Aomine has watched over Kise since his name appeared on Satsuki's register and up until now, losing one feather at a time.
1. Flightless

**_Kise Ryouta_**

_**Mother: Kise Daisuri**_

_**Father: Kise Kukai**_

It was a silly name that matched an equally silly face. The baby stared up at him from his wooden crib with light brown eyes that guaranteed some serious darkening or lightening when he grew up, and against the white bedding of his crib was a shock of pale blonde hair. Aomine smirked at the comically wide eyes and gaping mouth and reached a hand inside to gently poke those chubby, chubby cheeks.

Kise struggled to get away from the offending finger, barely able to move his month old head. He pressed his cheek into the comfort of his soft bedding and let out a disgruntled cry that made Aomine smirk wider. "Get used to it squirt, I'm stuck with you till the end."

And it was one of the few truths that Aomine revealed to his newest charge. The baby let out a few more bothered noises, going as far as to whimper in distress before Aomine moved his finger from those cheeks to the teeny-tiny palm that immediately closed around it, a reflex common to all babies.

"You've got a strong grip." The indigo haired man murmured attempting to gently pull his finger out of Kise's tightly closed fist. He smiled when the baby focused on him a bit, the two keeping eye contact before Kise's eyelids fluttered closed. It was clearly nap time.

Aomine felt the air in the nursery change, his entire body stiffening in response to the sudden draft that entered the room. He kept his finger in Kise's grip, barely moving his head in order to confirm his suspicions.

"Tetsu, what are you doing here?" He kept his voice low, his senses trained on the sleeping infant in the crib.

"Aomie-kun," Kuroko paused briefly. "You know why I'm here."

"He's barely a month old." Aomine stared hard at Kise, watching the quick rise and fall of his chest. It bothered him little since babies usually had quick breathing. He carefully extracted his finger, glad when Kise let go and turned to face Kuroko. "You should leave Tetsu, you aren't getting him today or any time soon."

"I see." Kuroko responded, completely at ease and that's when Aomine noticed that Kuroko didn't have his scythe with him. Instead, the bluenette was holding a whistle to his lips, looking all too ready to blow but the kind person that he was, was giving Aomine the chance to reconsider his choice.

Aomine nodded and Kuroko blew on the whistle. Seconds later, the air in the nursery turned stifling and Aomine would have worried if Kise was all right if he didn't fear for his own well being.

"Daiki." Akashi appeared beside him, face emotionless apart from the slight surprise in his eyes. He took a moment to glance at the crib and his gaze trained on the sleeping baby for a longer moment before he turned back to Aomine, scissors in hand and gaze expectant. "This will hurt."

"When doesn't it?" Aomine grumbled but held still.

_Snip snip._

Kuroko and Akashi disappeared, leaving Aomine to nurse his throbbing left wing. He leaned against Kise's crib for a moment as the pain from Akashi's 'trim' had sent him to his knees. He breathed deeply and turned to peek at Kise through the bars of his crib. "You and me till the end squirt. Satsuki wouldn't have sent me to you if you weren't meant to do great things. Till the end."

* * *

_"Relax darling, you interviewed this baby sitter personally right?" _

_"But Ryouta's barely six months old!" _

_"His sisters will look after him, you know how much Haruka and Yumiko adore him. They'll be fine."_

* * *

Haruka busily ran a brush through her little's sisters golden blonde hair, hastily adding sparkly clips of various shades of pink as that was Yumiko's favorite color. She herself had donned a multitude of violet bands in her hair, around her arms, and some attached to her violet dress. Mommy and Daddy had gone out for a "date", and as far as her five year old mind understood, that just meant she was going to spend time with Shimura-san, the nice girl from across the street.

Shimura-san had arrived before Mommy and Daddy left. She fed her and Yumiko some apple slices because they were delicious and she grabbed one of Ryou-tan's baby food jars from the fridge because Ryou-tan couldn't eat apple slices yet. He didn't have teeth. Sucker. Ryou-tan wasn't worthy of apple slices, at least not yet.

Haruka smiled pleased to herself as she finished with Yumiko's hair. She was the eldest Kise, and her Daddy had told her she had to love her siblings. Even though Ryou-tan was different, didn't say much, and often ignored her (_how dare he) _she still loved him. She _had _to love him.

Yumiko didn't say much either but she liked to play with Haruka and that made them both very happy.

Shimura-san was in the room with them, but instead of coming over to the mini-vanity of their bedroom to play with them, she was busy with Ryou-tan. She was making funny faces and sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes and it made her little brother burst into laughter from where he sat several inches away from her on a plush blanket.

It annoyed Haruka a bit, she wanted to play with Shimura-san too.

* * *

Aomine watched as the new babysitter played with Kise. Well, just one Kise, the other two were in a little world of their own. Man, his Kise was the youngest of three siblings and was the only boy to boot. This kid was growing up showered with love and maybe just a little bit spoiled. Six months along and he was sitting by himself having mastered enough motor control to do so, his eyes had darkened into a shade between gold and brown and his hair had also darkened, matching his older sisters' yellow gold blond.

The babysitter left Kise inside his play pen for a moment to tend to the older Kise's and Aomine leaned against the sides of the play pen, smirking at Kise who was gumming on a soother.

"You're gonna grow up to be a looker you know that." Aomine teased.

The blonde was looking at him, clearly capable of seeing him but not able to respond. Aomine smirked when Kise's response to him was to let go of his soother in favor of gumming on his sock clad foot. The angel chuckled and reached into the crib to detach Kise from his foot. "Don't eat yourself. You've got plenty of toys here."

Kise seemed disgruntled at Aomine's interference and baby drool fell down his chin as he let out some pretty impressive garbled sounds composed of cooes and grunts. Aomine was clearly receiving a lecture.

"Nice try." Aomine said once Kise stopped gurgling, looking particularly peeved. "I'm immortal and you're six months old."

Kise proceeded to flop down from his sitting position to the floor of his play pen, throwing a hand to cover his face, though he was still peaking at Aomine from the gap of his arm.

Aomine smirked. "I rest my case."

Kise was staring at him, his toothless little mouth tilting upward in a half-smile, clearly entertained. Aomine liked it when Kise smiled, his charge was a happy baby as he should be. That's when Kise noticed how puffed Kise's cheeks were, and... they were slightly red. The baby had also fallen quiet but he wasn't sleeping which was odd.

"You okay squirt?" Aomine leaned into the play pen and reached a hand out to touch Kise's forehead. The blonde attempted to shove the hand away but weakly let his arms fall. The indigo haired man's eyes widened at such a pitiful attempt. Kise was usually stronger than that.

Suddenly the air turned cold and Aomine's head snapped towards Kuroko. The first time Kuroko visited him was the annual and obligatory visit for all beings in the world. It was a test, sometimes, for Angels to show their dedication. Losing feathers was no small feat. However now, "What the fuck happened?"

The Reaper let out a small breath. "There was cinnamon in the apple sauce he'd been fed Aomine-kun. He's allergic to it and he ate quite a lot. A little would have been fine but..."

"Call Akashi." Aomine said, he glared when Kuroko opened his mouth as if to double check. "I don't need to think twice, call him **now**."

* * *

_Snip snip._

* * *

At two years old, Kise had mastered walking- or maybe toddling was the better word for what he was doing- and loved to run circles around his parents and siblings. He'd also started talking, some odd words every now and then though the first thing he'd ever said was "Wert." Neither Mommy nor Daddy Kise knew what that could have possibly meant but Aomine did.

"Cute kid." Kagami was sitting on the swings and softly kicked against the crowd. The hospital park was pretty much empty. Anyone who saw a moving swing could blame it on the breezes blowing through the summer air.

"It actually gets cuter." Aomine called from where he lay on top of the monkey bars. He called down to Kise, "Squirt!"

The little blond stopped his terrorizing and pillaging of the park's sandbox and beamed at Aomine, yelling back with a show of his pearly white teeth. "Wert!"

"That's right!" Aomine cheered.

Kagami snorted for a moment before he composed himself. "Hey now, should you be teaching him that?"

"It's not hurting anyone is it?" Aomine pressed. He looked at Kagami for a moment and dared to breach the subject. "How's your kid doing though Bakagami?"

"Watch it Ahomine!" Kagami snapped, his fists clenching tightly. "Tatsuya's... okay. He's staying strong and fighting as hard as he can. Kuroko keeps coming though and I just wish he'd give us some space."

"Us." Aomine echoed. "Can he still see you?"

Kagami snorted. "He hasn't seen me since he was twelve. He knows I'm here though. He... he talks to me sometimes."

"Sure he isn't talking to himself?" Aomine asked dubiously.

"I don't really know." Kagami whispered. "What about you then? Why'd you get stuck with him?"

Aomine looked down at Kise who was back to wreaking havoc in the sand box. "He's strong too."

Kagami nodded. "That's good. Really... really good."

Aomine blinked and sat up. "Hey... you okay?"

The redhead shook his head. "Kuroko's with him. Shit."

Aomine watched Kagami head back to the hospital. It wasn't until the other angel was inside the building that he realized something very bad.

Kagami wasn't flying.

* * *

_"Thank you so much! Yumiko's feeling so much better." _

_"That's great to hear." _

_"Are you all right doctor? You seem rather down."_

_"Oh I'm fine, I just... I lost someone very dear to me earlier today." _

_"Oh dear." _

_"It was a seven year fight against cancer."_

_"I see..."_

* * *

Kise was four when he first saw Kuroko and to be honest that scared the shit out of Aomine. Watching his charge and one of Death's mistresses interact had been enough to rattle the feathers of wings, what few were left of them.

"Kurokochii's so cool!" The blonde cried and jumped in the bluenette's lap.

Kuroko seemed to be smiling, or as close as he could get to smiling, and ruffled Kise's blonde hair. "Did you mean that literally?"

"I don't know." Kise shrugged his small shoulders. He was leaning into Kuroko's touch, awfully comfortable in his embrace.

_Death's embrace._

Aomine had all but ripped Kise from Kuroko, but instead he calmly asked what the Reaper thought he was doing there, with Kise in his arms looking all but ready to take him away. Akashi was sitting by the windowsill, scissors at the ready. Was he that predictable?

_Snip snip._

"He has a play date today Aomine-kun." Kuroko had told him, his eyes deep with knowledge only reapers knew and angels, who loved their charges, paid for with a heavy price. "Lots of cars travel the streets at three-fifteen."

* * *

_"Isn't this exciting Haruka? Yumiko's been scouted!"_

_"What makes it different from the last fifteen times?" _

_"They scouted Ryou-tan with me!"_

_"Work it! My siblings are models!" _

* * *

**"Ryouta Kise, child model at seven years old, has taken to rising as one of Tokyo's wonder babies. Several companies have offered the young beauty and his sister, Ryouta Yumiko, the latter being in the business world longer, several contracts to sponsor several famous brands..." **

"Ahh, Mine-chin. What are you doing over here? Your charge's over there."

Aomine crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the oak tree several feet away from where Kise was being interviewed. "I'm fine right where I am Murasakibara."

"Really?" The violet haired Reaper was nibbling on something that looked like sticks but were supposedly edible.

"Yeah." Aomine grunted. "The more important question would be what _you're _doing here."

"It's someone's time." Murasakibara shrugged. "Not your charge though, so no need to get worked up."

Aomine simply nodded.

* * *

_**Kise Daisuri**_

_**March 23, 19XX - September 18, XXXX**_

_**Loving daughter, mother, friend**_

_**"Haru-san loves you. Miko-chan adores you. Ryou-tan remembers you." **_

Kise clung to his sister's as they lowered the coffin down to the ground, taking their mother with it. He sobbed his little heart out, tears flowing unabashedly as time seemed to stop.

Aomine watched from afar as the ceremony ended with the ground covering the hole that had been dug in order to send Mommy Kise to the other world. He watched as Haruka at twelve years old and Yumiko at ten guided their little brother all but three steps towards the car before Daddy Kise had to pick Ryouta into his arms, his son bawling for the world to know of his anguish.

The angel watched the family grief, feeling slightly guilty.

"You could have saved her you know." Midorima was overseeing the funeral near by, his own charge had just lost his grandmother and he seemed to be taking it hard.

Aomine raised his eyebrows in question. "Why did you save whoever it was that _your _brat lost?"

"I wasn't asked to save her." Midorima pushed his glasses up his nose. "Takao wants his grandmother to be at peace. He doesn't want her to hurt anymore."

"So he still talks to you huh." Aomine mumbled, eyes glued to Kise.

"Yes." Midorima paused. "Your's doesn't?"

Aomine said nothing, but the answer was so very clear it actually hurt.

_'Mine can't. Not anymore.'_

* * *

_"The heck's your problem? You're like, what? Eight?" _

_"I'm ten."_

_"You don't look it." _

_"Well you don't look eleven." _

_"Hn. You've got guts, I like it. Name's Haizaki." _

_"... I'm Kise." _

* * *

Aomine watch year after painful year after Kise met that asshole as his charge gambled, challenged, and maybe even _taunted _death. At first it had been simple enough; a fist fight here, a chase there. When he hit thirteen and Haizaki had gotten into bigger crowds Aomine had tried to keep Kise away from him.

The fact that Kise couldn't see him however, made it difficult enough, he couldn't help but detest the fact that Haizaki's own angel had abandoned him already. At fourteen, Kise seemed to be a lost cause as he tried nearly every conceivable drug he could get his stupidly grabby hands on. His sisters didn't question him, his father had lost his own battle to alcoholism leaving his children alone. The entire Kise family had gone into hiding after their loss, no magazine could get any of their faces on its glossy front cover and if it were off the record, no one tried hard enough.

If they did, they would see this.

Aomine glared distastefully as Kise threw up messily into the toilet, nearly choking on what little food he'd gotten into his stomach as it fought its way out again. After a minute of this, the blonde sagged against the ceramic bowl and pressed his cheek against the cool surface, a groan breaking the silence.

"I hate you so much right now." The blonde grumbled before he began to throw up again.

Haizaki's voice came from the kitchen where he was miserably slumped in his chair. "You and me both kid."

"- not a kid!" Kise protested weakly.

"Oh I know that." Haizaki murmured, a smirk on his face. Another thing Aomine couldn't take. "A kid wouldn't be able to do what you do with that tongue Ryouta."

Bastard took Kise's innocence.

* * *

_"Haizaki... who are these people?" _

_"You've got a friend huh? Who's he? He's pretty." _

_"He's nobody. Look, just get outta here okay? I'll get you the money when I get you the money."_

_"That won't cut anymore Haizaki, boss wants the money now." _

_"Well I don't have it." _

_"Too bad."_

* * *

"Aomine-kun." Kuroko's voice seemed far off but he was right beside Aomine. They both stared at the scene, one completely impassive- these humans meant nothing to him, and the other conflicted.

Aomine felt a twinge of guilt as Kise lay on the pavement, eyes staring straight into the sky, a small smile on his face. Haizaki lay beside him. The fucker was already gone... but Kise wasn't. His heart beat slowly, weakly, ready to give up any second now.

"Aomine-kun, he won't last long." Kuroko nudged his companion with his elbow.

Aomine shook his head. He was an idiot.

* * *

_Snip snip._

* * *

_"He lost a lot of blood but he'll be all right. We found questionable substances in his system, and we would like to keep him for some time to make sure we've flushed all the drugs out. Then afterwards, you might consider therapy."_

_"Whatever he needs. God, I can't believe we let this go this far." _

_"It's not your fault Haruka-nee." _

_"I'm supposed to take care of you." _

_"You are! It's not you're fault and we'll take care of him now! Anything he needs he'll get!"_

* * *

Aomine stared at the sleeping face. He wasn't smiling now.

"Idiot." He carefully rotated a shoulder, cringing when pangs of pain crawled up and down his body. He wouldn't be able to fly now. "I'm not giving up on you that easily."

He felt a cold breeze in the room but for once he couldn't see Kuroko or Kagami or whoever it was in the room with him. He felt someone place hands on his shoulders and he shivered.

Momoi's heart squeezed when Aomine neither looked her way nor reacted aside from the flinch. It felt so odd that her hands were on his shoulders with nothing in between. No feathers keeping her from holding him like this.

No wings.

Momoi looked hard at the blond boy in the hospital bed, unconscious, unknowing. She hadn't realized that this would happen when she'd assigned Aomine to Kise.

"I'm..." Aomine's voice broke the silence, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

Momoi took pity on him and said it for him and even if he couldn't see her, Aomine heard it loud and clear. "_**flightless." **_

* * *

**AN: **So uhm. First Kuroko no Basuke fic? Just got into the fandom so I'm trying my hand on this. Definitely an AoKise fan XD Also due to sudden appearance of baby pictures (though edited) I've been wanting to write baby!Kise XD

To be continued?


	2. Sightless

Aomine had to take a moment for himself as reality settled in on him. He didn't have his wings anymore. He was only as good as any other flightless bird; like a chicken- or what the heck even if they were already extinct- a dodo bird. Over the years, unlike the average human being, Kise had found himself in more trouble than he was worth. Usually it was because of the carelessness of others, but then again, it was the idiot's fault for trusting so easily and being so nice to everyone…

But wasn't that what Aomine liked about him so much? Even when Kise had been a baby, he was very _open_. He went with anyone, even strangers he'd only met a minute ago. No one was bad to Kise. Even when he'd grown up a little, everyone was still a close friend at heart.

_God above, what had he done? _

Aomine was barely thirteen centuries old if he was going to be honest. He was young and he behaved recklessly.

Did he regret shedding his wings to keep Kise alive?

No.

Did he know why he did it?

No.

Was that his problem?

...Well, **maybe. **

_Maybe_ okay, he really couldn't honestly say just yet. What was it keeping him anchored to Kise? He'd lost charges before- who the hell hasn't? Sure he'd felt guilty when he couldn't save his charge but what was so fucking special about Kise that he'd given up his wings for the brat?

Not just his wings, but his sight. For a long time, the only family he's known was the group of multi-colored idiots that he sometimes crossed paths with. He _maybe_ even missed them right now. Aomine wondered if one of them was nearby. He couldn't… even feel their presence anymore.

Aomine let out a soft sigh and stared hard at his ceiling. There was a reason why Satsuki thought to send him to Kise. There was a reason why Murasakibara took Mommy Kise's soul. There was a reason why Aomine gave up his wings. Even if Kise had recklessly wasted the life he had, and how Aomine wanted to just leave him to Kuroko and his scythe- there was a reason he didn't.

**_But what?_**

* * *

Losing Mommy Kise was a blow that none of the remaining Kise family members could recover from. At least not easily. Haruka had coped with the grief by throwing herself into her studies and eventually into her work. Good thing too, because Daddy Kise had become useless, his days starting a few hours after noon and ending pissed ass drunk at four in the morning. Yumiko had shied away from modeling and instead used her God given talents at drawing, successfully publishing several light novels under a pseudonym. They'd done this at the age of twenty and seventeen respectively using every single contact they had in their arsenal to create some sense of stability.

In an effort to bury their own pain, they'd blinded themselves to their little brother's anguish. They'd already lost their mother, they were on their way to losing their father, and if they hadn't blinded themselves, they would have lost their little brother too, and that was just too much. Just… too fucking much.

But for Ryouta it hadn't been enough at all.

"We should have never left him alone." Haruka spoke and yet her eyes were glued to the window. She couldn't bear to face the psychiatrist for fear- no, for the knowledge that she was being judged. Her stupidity, carelessness, and guilt knew no bounds. "I should have paid more attention, not just to Ryouta but to Yumiko too."

"It's normal to lock yourself in during times of stress Kise-san." He was a kind man, if one could call him a man. He seemed slightly young. To her, he was a _boy._ Almost like Ryouta. Tears pricked the back of her eyelids.

"I just regret so much." Haruka sniffed and accepted the offered tissue.

The psychiatrist said nothing and she let the tears fall. He had always been so thoughtful.

* * *

Kise Ryouta was still a looker, just a little skinny and a little… down. That was the only thing you could say to describe him. What was usually a ball of sunshine was now some deflated and dragging cloud. Clouds were cute. They were fluffy. But Kise hadn't floated towards the sky for such a long time.

Washed up at sixteen, he's been in rehabilitation for nearly two years (one if you don't count the year he'd nearly shocked himself into a vegetative state and a temporary coma). Shuugo had taken his last breath when Kise had been fifteen. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, how he _wanted_ to feel about that. Shuugo had been someone that had opened an entirely odd can of worms. He had been **dangerous**, a **_thrill_**. Something that pushed Kise to move forward even after all the crap he'd gone through.

Even if "crap" equalled only to losing his mother. Not that you could look at that so lowly. Losing someone, such a vital figure in his life, had killed him just as much. He'd only experienced this feeling once, and he wasn't really even sure if it had been his overly active imagination.

Imagination. He used to be good at using that. He'd used to believe that he had a guardian angel with him wherever he went. He was a pretty looking angel, but even when he had been younger, Daisuke? Daichi? Well, whatever the heck the name was, his guardian angel had watched over him and kept him company all the time. He remembered having Daichi with him wherever he went.

Until that day Yumiko got him into modeling and he may have lost interest in his imaginary friends. He'd stopped thinking of Daichi then, because he had been properly distracted by the flashing lights, and all those clothes, all those people.

With his forgetfulness came Daichi's disappearance (did it count if he didn't exist in the first place?)

That hadn't stopped Kise from praying for Daichi to come and save his Mom when the accident happened though.

A bunch of kids had been playing basketball near the shoot area, their young minds didn't quite grasp the fact that there was an interview going on. Mommy Kise had just come back from their car when the basketball had hit the back of her head, on reflex she'd frozen in surprise not seeing that the ball had rebounded and hit the scaffolding that had been set up for that day's interview.

_Humpty dumpty sat on the wall _

_Humpty dumpty had a great fall _

_All the king's horses and all the king's men _

_Couldn't put humpty together again_

Kise inwardly chuckled and as weird as it sounded, he may have sobbed somewhere in there too. So it was a mix between two emotions that tugged on him, warred within him, pushing and pulling and he didn't know which one to follow and settled for staring emptily at space. He did that a lot now. Just... spent his time _staring_.

Several times he'd been asked what it was he was looking at. What did he see that they couldn't? Kise wished he could answer.

A soft rapping at his door broke his daily eye-to-eye contact with the wall.

Yumiko was smiling at him albeit weakly, her lips trembling even after she'd mastered that smile that the cameras had loved her for and has been absent for some years now.

"Hey there Ryou-tan." She tucked a lock of blonde hair, not quite the same lustrous shade it used to be, behind her right ear and smiled at him. Her face was voice of any makeup, in fact, if you looked close enough, her lips were chapped and clearly uncared for.

Ryouta's hair wasn't doing any better. In fact, it had been cropped short. His sisters had meant well when they'd asked the nurses to call someone in and he really didn't care what he looked like anymore. He hasn't cared for a while now. It's not like his looks we're getting him anywhere, he's been in therapy for almost a year.

Yumiko and Haruka felt very conflicted about their decision to keep Ryouta in a therapy home, but in the end it worked out best for all of them. They got to live their lives while he was 'seen to' and 'taken cared off'. In some way, Ryouta seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick but who was he to complain?

Ryouta didn't even try a smile as his sister hovered by the door. He did, however nod his head in acknowledgement. She had a piece of paper in her hands. That was new.

"Haruka says she'll stop by maybe Tuesday." Yumiko continued not liking the silence, though they had both pretty much gotten used to it. "She's sorry she couldn't be here Ryou-tan."

Ryouta pretended not to see the way her lips trembled or how her voice shook.

Yumiko smiled, though it came off more as sad than anything else. She approached the bed and waved the paper around. "I got a letter from a friend of yours when you were in primary school. I don't know if you remember but he wants to see you-."

"Why?"

Yumiko froze. "Ryou-tan?"

"Why does he want to see me?" Ryouta stared hard at the wall.

"H-He said you used to be great friends-." Yumiko tried to explain.

Ryouta turned his blank stare on her. "What's his name?"

"Ryou-!"

Ryouta threw a pillow at Yumiko and it met her square in the face.

"Just tell me his name." He whispered.

Yumiko sighed. It rarely happened but Ryouta got into these _moods _sometimes and it was better to just ignore it, let it pass. it was usually a sign that they'd better take their leave. "Never mind Ryou-tan. Go to sleep. I'll… I'll be back."

Ryouta didn't look at her go. But he felt quite painfully how she hovered by his doorway before leaving. Her parting words numbing him further inside. He sunk deeper into his bed and if he was going to be honest, he sunk just as deep into his misery.

**_"Happy Birthday Ryou-tan... we love you."_**

* * *

_"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"_

_"Ryouta-kun, you're too happy in the morning."_

_"But Mommy it's my birthday!"_

_"Is it now?"_

_"Yes! Yes! Yes!"_

_"Well the birthday boy gets extra syrup on his pancakes!"_

_"Yay~! Chocolate syrup- and strawberries!"_

* * *

"Kise-kun? Kise-kun?"

Ryouta pulled himself out of his thoughts. He looked at his psychologist and smiled weakly. This was one person he felt he could show some emotion to, because he alone wouldn't call Ryouta out for faking anything.

"Sorry Kurokochii, I was…" Ryouta searched for the word to appease his psychologist and lamely settled for, "lost in thought."

Kuroko returned his weak smile with an apathetic face, in his hands was a pen and pad of paper that Kise had seen him doodle in many times before when the bluenette was supposed to be taking down notes of their sessions. Truth be told, Kise wasn't sure how Kuroko was a psychologist when he looked even younger than Kise maybe.

Perhaps it was the apparent maturity that Kuroko possessed. His apathetic nature kept him strong against patients and maybe he was only interning. Kise never found it in himself to ask about Kuroko's life. That was none of his business. And besides, it was Kuroko's job to ask the questions and Kise's to smile sardonically in hopes that Kuroko would just shut up.

Not that Kuroko talked much. Honestly, Kise preferred the silence. He would rather put up with that than have someone chtter his ear off. Maybe it was because Shuugo didn't like it when Kise rattled off like a broken record player. Or maybe it was because his mother loved the sound of Kise's voice and as a young child, he'd talk and talk and talk for hours on end.

"Kise-kun," Kuroko placed his pen down on the table. "You're hair's gotten longer than you usually keep it. Do you want me to call Akasahi-kun in?"

Instinctively, Kise reached up and fingered the ear length blonde hair. Kuroko was right, it was far too long compared to how he usually kept it. He sucked on his cheek for a moment. Vanity had no place in a rehabilitation home, just as it had no place in Kise's life. He didn't want it in the first place.

"I'd like it cut." Kise said.

Kuroko nodded. "Easily done."

_Unlike everything else._

* * *

Akashi tucked his scissors into the pocket of his coat and went about tidying the slight mess he'd made in Kuroko's office. If one could call the room an office, it looked more like a cotton ball mass produced itself in there. He sniffed at such a fluffy display.

"How is he?"

Kuroko looked up from where he was petting Nigou, a gift from Death when Kuroko had explained what had happened to Aomine and Kise. "He's... the same as always."

"And the other one?"

"Stubborn... as _always_." Kuroko replied. "He seems to think that he deserves time to... get himself together. I don't understand what's keeping him away. Kise-kun was in that coma for an entire year. I suppose that wasn't enough time to recover from the incident?"

"You can't exactly blame him." Akashi snapped his fingers and the golden locks in his palm turned to ash. "Losing your wings would be similar to losing your scythe, Kuroko. Have you ever experienced that just yet? And I don't mean misplacing it like Atsushi, but genuinely losing it. Having it broken in front of you, leaving you with hope that you could probably put it back together only for the fragments to burst into flames?"

If Kuroko was one to show his emotions, he would have been frowning something fierce. "No."

"Then you're not in the position to judge Daiki." Akashi readied himself to leave. He gave Kuroko one last glance. "I suggest you get Taiga to help him. Ryouta's suffered more than enough."

Kuroko simply nodded and when the room was void of any redheads, turned to Nigou, who barked up at him. "Shush Nigou."

Nigou barked once more.

"You're wrong, I do not answer to him."

_Bark. _

"Oh all right. But if I'm cursed for meddling into matters between Luck and Death I will hold you personally responsible."

_**Bark!** _

* * *

Kise rarely ever went out when he had the chance, so he wasn't sure what had compelled him to ask Kuroko for a permission slip to leave the rehabilitation home. Kise never actually looked at the fine print on the rehabilitation home but basically it had staff that served to get people back on their feet. It was a long term commitment for both patient and staff member.

Two years was short compared to some of the folks who have yet to leave.

Kise wondered what could have drawn him to this place. He went from the home to a hospital. And it was one of the farther hospitals from the home.

"It's official." He grumbled more to himself as he snuggled into the sweater one of his sisters had bought him for his birthday. He wasn't exactly going to let it go to waste.

A voice broke in on his solitude. "What is?"

Kise, used to people coming from nowhere and breaking his focus of... well wandering, simply let out a quiet sigh. If he ignored the person, he'd go away. People don't like being ignored. Rejection hurt, like a lot of things. And hurting and pain usually turned a person away.

Imagine his surprise when he felt, more than saw, the man take a seat beside him. The bench he was sitting on was good for children, mostly. He was fairly close to whoever it was.

"I asked you something you know." the voice teased.

Kise closed his eyes. "My parents told me not to talk to strangers."

"That's very smart of them."

"Yes, it was." Kise nodded.

"Are you're parents here?"

"No."

"Oh? Where are they?" the voice pestered.

Kise's eyebrows knit on his face. "**Not** here."

"Yeah I got that." the voice snorted and there was something... oddly familiar about it. "Where are they though?"

"They're dead. Mother died in an accident when I was young and my father may still be breathing but he's just as gone." Kise, inwardly frustrated, had said it in a deadpan. His eyes opened and he turned his head to face the stranger ready to ask if he still wanted to know crap. If he wished to offer his condolences only to stop short at seeing nothing but air and an empty bench. "Huh?"

There was no one there.

* * *

_"Well, I did what you asked me to do. I don't see how that's going to help him though..." _

_"You know so little, baby human." _

_"I'm seventeen. Or I was when I... yeah." _

_"Baby." _

_"Don't listen to that, Death's always been insensitive."_

_"Psh, Luck is just** too **sensitive."_

_"Can't you call each other by your names?" _

_"Do you poke a sleeping dragon?"_

* * *

_**"He still can't see me... it still hurts so much."**_

* * *

**AN: **Second chapter. It's gonna be a bit confusing but it'll only be until I get the characters settled in. :D If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them and I'm so glad you liked it enough to follow and review. Many thanks to; **Under A Cloud **and **Ryokucha-sensei**. Your words made me so very, very happy!

Nique


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